Long hose (7 feet) setup ?

[DogDiver]

Recommend a standard 40 inch hose or at most a 5 footer for open water. That way you control the ascent. The out of air diver ain’t goin anyware.

 

[EireDiver606]

Recommend a standard 40 inch hose or at most a 5 footer for open water. That way you control the ascent. The out of air diver ain’t goin anyware.

You may have been diving for 52 years but things have changed. People don’t dive the way they used to.

A 7 foot long hose is now regarded as the safest, easiest and most streamlined setup for gas sharing scenarios by the technical agencies. And it IS safer.

 

[RyanT]

Recommend a standard 40 inch hose or at most a 5 footer for open water.

Perhaps counterintuitively, I find a 7' hose easier to manage and stow than a 5' hose. Tucking it in my waist band keeps it streamlined and in place. I do also dive some penetration, so no matter if I'm in open water or in an overhead environment, my rig is streamlined and easy to deploy in any situation.

 

[Dirty-Dog]

Recommend a standard 40 inch hose or at most a 5 footer for open water. That way you control the ascent. The out of air diver ain’t goin anyware.

Recommend a 7' hose. A 40 inch hose is far from ideal for air sharing.
As for the 5' hose... I am 6'1", and it's all torso. Sue is 5'7", Kim is 5'8". We all have the same inseam. Keeping a 5' hose tucked in my waist belt isn't going to happen.
In short: 40" is too short for ideal sharing, impractical and possibly dangerous in some circumstances.
5' is too short for penetration, and too short for taller people to keep stowed. And would require me to change hoses all the time.
7' is suitable for open water, cave, wreck penetration, stays stowed, allows things like shooting a bag in open water dives, and since it's suitable for all environments, doesn't require a bunch of unnecessary gear reconfiguration.
7' wins.

 

[Roger Hobden]

In theory, anybody could scuba dive without a buoyancy compensator, like was the norm for decades, but would anyone really want to go back to these "good old days" ?

I am aware that I am still a novice/beginner diver, but my aim is to adopt any and all types of equipment that have the potential to increase the safety level of diving through proper use and repeated drills, no matter if this equipment is "officially" used by (restricted to ?) technical divers or not.

 

[doctormike]

Here's another thing. Muscle memory is important, and makes a big difference in an actual emergency. If you are training new divers, a few of those will go on to be serious technical divers, doing long cave pushes or deep wreck penetrations. More will become advanced recreational divers, doing limited wreck penetration, cavern training, etc... And some (maybe most) will never be in any sort of overhead environment.

But if stowing and deploying a long hose isn't a big disadvantage for any new diver once they learn how to do it right (it really isn't), then why not train everyone from the beginning with a technique that will be useful no matter where they go with their diving, and not set them up for having to relearn everything as they progress?

Sure, maybe there are financial reasons why every class at a Caribbean resort training open water divers with rental gear aren't set up with long hoses, backplates, etc... But If you are a new diver who is buying and optimizing your gear early on, think about long hose primary donate from the start. It's really helpful, even if you aren't in an overhead environment.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

In theory, anybody could scuba dive without a buoyancy compensator, like was the norm for decades, but would anyone really want to go back to these "good old days" ?

Many do and many still dive without BCs.
Gallery of California Backpack Divers : 1999-2001

 

[Ayisha]

@Trace Malinowski, Gideon taught me to tuck and pull my 7 foot hose (by the loop) far down under the waist belt and then pull it far back. Works like a charm!

 

[Antihero]

I wear a cheap pocket on the right hip of my harness where most would carry a canister (holds a smaller SMB, thumb reel, spare pencils, Capri Sun and wet notes). I tuck my hose under my waist belt, flip it 180 deg. and then pull it over the pocket like people would with a canister configuration. My primary light no longer needs a can and the pocket is flexible which makes sharing easier in my opinion.

 

[Satrekker]

I wear a pair of titanium dive shears in a sheath on right side of bpw waist belt held in place with a triglide. I loop my long hose under it to keep it in place. I don't like tucking hose in waist belt.